Luck, the Double-Edged Sword for Women in the Academy in Australia

• In Event: Research on Women in Higher Education

Abstract

This presentation reports data from a mixed methods study that researched new professors in 33 Australian universities. It considers how ‘luck’, ‘chance’, ‘opportunity’ and ‘serendipity’ featured in the responses of women professors when discussing their career success. In analysing responses, the paper draws on a range of perspectives including impostor syndrome, female socialization, subverting knowledge of the academy, and irruption. The paper concludes that explanations using a rationale of luck might be a way of ‘playing the game’ to achieve professorships, and identifies some of the costs associated with this approach.

Authors

• Susan J. Grieshaber, La Trobe University

• Carmel M. Diezmann, Australian Catholic University